Med Bag of Chips

Ham, cheddar cheese, fresh tomatoes, and arugula.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Sliced turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in a whole wheat wrap.

Fit Turkey Wrap

Famous for its rich amber color and medium-bodied flavor with roasted caramel malt for a subtle sweetness and a combination of cluster and cascade hops, this true original delivers a well-balanced taste with very distinct character.

Heat approximately 3.5 gallons of brewing water to 165°F (74°C) to achieve a mash temperature of 152°F (67°C) when grains are added.

Heat strike water

Add crushed grains (Pilsner, Vienna, Munich, Crystal 60L, roasted barley) to the strike water and stir to eliminate dry pockets. Target mash temperature: 152°F (67°C). Hold for 60 minutes for medium body and full conversion.

Mash in

Raise mash temperature to 168°F (76°C) for 10 minutes to stop enzymatic activity, then begin lautering.

Mash out

Sparge with additional 2.5 gallons of 170°F (77°C) water until you collect roughly 5.5–6.0 gallons of wort in the kettle (adjust to your system losses).

Sparge

Bring the collected wort to a vigorous boil. Watch for boilovers.

Bring to a boil

At the start of the 60-minute boil, add 1.0 oz Cluster hops (bittering). Boil for 60 minutes total.

Bittering addition

With 15 minutes remaining, add Irish moss (1 tsp) if using. With 10 minutes remaining, add 1.0 oz Cascade hops for flavor/aroma. Optionally, add cornelius/brewing salts earlier in the mash or at mash water adjustment stage; if adding to the boil, add before or at the start.

Clarifier and late additions

After 60 minutes, turn off the heat and prepare to chill wort quickly to fermentation temperature.

End of boil

Chill the wort quickly to 50°F (10°C) using an immersion chiller or wort chiller. Transfer chilled wort to a sanitized fermenter. Aerate or oxygenate the wort thoroughly (2–3 minutes with pure oxygen or vigorous shaking) to support healthy lager yeast fermentation.

Wort chilling and oxygenation

Pitch the prepared lager yeast (rehydrated if dry, or properly prepared starter if liquid) at 48–52°F (9–11°C). Seal fermenter and attach airlock.

Pitch yeast

Allow fermentation to proceed at 50–54°F (10–12°C) for about 7–14 days, until activity subsides and specific gravity is near final gravity (target original gravity ~1.050, target final gravity ~1.012; adjust if your system yields different OG/FG).

Primary fermentation

Raise temperature to 60–65°F (15–18°C) for 48–72 hours after primary fermentation to allow the yeast to clean up diacetyl and other off-flavors.

Diacetyl rest

After the diacetyl rest, gradually cool the beer to 35–40°F (2–4°C) over 2–3 days and lager (cold condition) at 35–40°F (2–4°C) for 4–8 weeks for a clean, smooth profile and to develop clarity and mellow malt flavors.

Lagering (conditioning)

If you want an extra aromatic note of Cascade, add 0.5 oz Cascade hops to the fermenter for 3–5 days during the last week of lagering at cold temperatures. Note: dry hopping can add haze; skip if crystal clarity is desired.

Optional dry hop

When lagering is complete, rack the beer off the yeast trub into a sanitized keg or bottling bucket. If bottling, dissolve priming sugar (3.5 oz corn sugar) in 1 cup boiling water, cool, and gently mix into the beer to carbonate. Fill bottles and cap.

Kegging or bottling

If bottled, store bottles at 65–70°F (18–21°C) for 10–14 days to carbonate, then cold condition at 35–40°F (2–4°C) for another 1–2 weeks before drinking. If kegging, carbonate to 2.2–2.6 volumes CO2 by force carbonation or natural conditioning, then lager briefly at serving temperature.

Carbonation and conditioning

Pilsner malt (base)

Vienna malt

Munich malt

Caramel/Crystal 60L

Roasted barley (or small amount roasted malt for color)

Cluster hops (bittering)

Cascade hops (aroma / late addition)

Cascade hops (dry hop / optional)

Lager yeast (liquid or dry, e.g., Wyeast 2124 or Saflager W-34/70)

Water (brewing)

Irish moss (clarifier, optional)

Priming sugar (for bottling) or corn sugar

Cornelius or brewing salts (calcium chloride / gypsum) - optional

Traditional Lager

Make Traditional Lager Recipe in just 40h . Famous for its rich amber color and medium-bodied flavor with roasted caramel malt for a subtle sweetness and a combination of cluster and cascade hops, this true original delivers a well-balanced taste with very distinct character.

Traditional Lager

Descriptors

Tasting Notes

Food Pairings

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